Downtown Cleveland adds to its restaurant collection

Restaurants come and go, but continued growth in downtown Cleveland's residential and office markets suggests the urban core has the appetite to support a recent healthy net gain of retailers and eateries.

According to Downtown Cleveland Alliance, 48 retail stores have opened in the last 18 months, with 36 being restaurants. The market this year alone will see a net gain of 23 shops and dining establishments once Driftwood Restaurant Group's Cibreo Italian Kitchen and Rothschild Farms open later this year at PlayhouseSquare. Another 22 retail shops and eateries are planned through 2014.

“Downtown Cleveland has been a dining destination, with internationally acclaimed restaurants attracting tourists and locals,” said Gina Morris, director of marketing and public relations for Downtown Cleveland Alliance. “As our large- scale investments continue to come online and our residential market continues to explode, more amenities and a variety of restaurants are opening.”

The mix includes more fast-casual, national chain restaurants, including Chipotle, Potbelly Sandwich Shop and Au Bon Pain, as well as esteemed locally owned operations, such as the aforementioned Scott Kuhn's Driftwood Restaurant concepts, Barroco Grill in Cleveland's Warehouse District, and Red the Steakhouse, on Prospect Avenue near East Fourth Street.

Those new establishments aim to fulfill market demand, as downtown's office population of 120,000 continues to grow steadily, and its residential population base surges, up 32% to 12,000 at present from about 9,100 in 2010.

These three downtown pockets particularly are bolstering their dining options:

Flats East Bank: Four restaurants — Lago, Willeyville, Ken Stewart's and w xyz bar at the Aloft Hotel — have opened as part of the development's first phase. Another seven, including Flip Side, Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill and Big Bang Dueling Piano Bar, are slated for the $133 million second phase, which is scheduled to break ground this fall.

NineTwelve District: Over the last two and a half years, downtown Cleveland has attracted more than 5,500 new jobs from 60 different companies, with about half those jobs concentrated in the NineTwelve District, Ms. Morris said. Its office occupancy in the second quarter rose 2.4%, with AmTrust Financial's relocation and National General Insurance's move to 800 Superior Ave. adding about 1,000 jobs to the district. Restaurant openings in that district include Table 9 and Walk in the Park Café, both located within Ohio Savings Bank on East Ninth Street, and Winks inside the Galleria.

PlayhouseSquare: : The theater district's planned $16 million transformation campaign, along with its burgeoning office and residential market, is a beacon for quality establishments, with the addition of Zack Bruell's Cowell & Hubbard in 2012, his Dynomite! burger stand this year, and District among examples.

“PlayhouseSquare is no longer dining for pre-theater only. It’s becoming the next destination area in dining,” said Seth Bromberg, who opened District in April and also operates The Melting Pot in Lyndhurst and Fairview Park. “We’re following in the great footsteps of what Zack laid a year ago and are proud to be a part of what Mr. (Art) Falco is doing at PlayhouseSquare.”

Hofbrauhaus also recently announced plans to build in the theater district a 1,700-seat hall and beer garden in 2014.

The recently vacated space left by Sammy’s, a now-defunct catering company, is prime real estate for perhaps another eatery.

Other morsels

Annoyed by Yelp reviews? TruReview, an online reputation management site, quietly debuted as an anti-Yelp alternative, though results from a Nielsen survey suggest restaurant operators will probably need to endure Yelp because it has so many users, according to this story from Restaurant Hospitality.

Tipping always has been part of the dining experience; these days, tips usually reflect 10% to 20% of a bill, generating an annual total of about $42 billion at full-service restaurants. But recent legal challenges are prompting questions about the practice of tipping altogether. Read more in this item from National Restaurant News.

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